


Whirlpools

by asterismal (asterisms)



Series: Whirlpools [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 04:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7251706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterisms/pseuds/asterismal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter has fallen back in time. He refuses to fall again.</p>
<p>*edit: The scene that sparked the actual series. Will be reused in an edited form</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whirlpools

Tom- _ Voldemort _ -leans down to press a kiss to his mouth and Harry freezes until, at the last possible moment, he turns his head away. He has thought about this moment endlessly, but no matter how many times it has played out in his thoughts and in his dreams, he is not prepared. The soft brush of Tom’s lips against his cheek strikes like a death blow, and he gasps at the feel of it. 

His hands ache to hold onto something, anything, but he does not belong here. This has gone on long enough. He closes his eyes and braces himself against the wall at his back. He wants desperately to give in, to let himself fall forward and be caught by this boy, and for all of his darkness and hatred and power he is just a  _ boy  _ (a boy no different from Harry except in all the ways that matter), who has trapped him here.

Instead, he presses the palms of his hands against Tom’s shoulders and listens to the sharp intake of breath that Tom gives when he understands that Harry has denied him again.

This act, denial after allowing the other boy so close… Harry knows it is cruel.

But more than cruelty, it is a kindness that he has finally learned to allow himself. If being surrounded by Slytherins since his arrival into the past has taught him anything, it is that sometimes survival requires selfishness. And this, cool stone against his back and Tom Riddle’s breath against his cheek…

This has never been anything but survival.

“Even now,” Tom whispers, his hands like claws holding Harry in place. “Even now, as I hold you here, you defy me.”

Harry fights back a hysterical laugh.  _ It’s what I do! _ He wants to yell, to force this boy to see what his darkness will become. But he doesn’t.

“For what it’s worth,” Harry says, finally, as he turns his head to look into the other boy’s eyes once more, “I’m sorry.”

And he is. He presses his forehead against Tom’s, and if he looks carefully, Harry thinks he can almost see a hint of crimson in his dark eyes.

“Just tell me why,” Tom says. It sounds like a plea, like a prayer. But everyone knows that Dark Lords do not beg. He presses his fingers to Harry’s lips, as if he could feel the answer before it is even formed. “Tell the truth.”

Harry shakes his head, and Tom’s other hand comes to rest against his throat.

“You’ll understand when you’re older,” Harry says. It tastes like poison, but he says it anyway.

It feels like a betrayal, but it has since the very beginning.

 

He shoves Tom away with all of his strength and doesn’t pause to watch him fall. 

He walks away.

  
It’s his turn to leave someone behind. He figures he’s earned it, this time.

**Author's Note:**

> As stated in the summary, I might eventually turn this into a full length fic. I've already got some framework written, but I don't know if I want to commit yet.  
> *edit: this scene has grown into a monster and the fic is now being written
> 
> The title has to do with this quote by Michio Kaku:  
> "In Einstein's equation, time is a river. It speeds up, meanders, and slows down. The new wrinkle is that it can have whirlpools and fork into two rivers. So, if the river of time can be bent into a pretzel, create whirlpools and fork into two rivers, then time travel cannot be ruled out."
> 
> Find me on [tumblr](https://being-luminous.tumblr.com//).


End file.
